1. Technical Field
This invention relates to dump trailers wherein the chassis and dump body are pivoted to one another and means is provided for elevating the dump body to effect the gravity discharge of material therein through an opened tailgate or the like and wherein the dump body is carried directly by the chassis in transport position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dump body trailers have been produced in various lengths and capacities and consist of a chassis formed principally of parallel spaced I-beams and a plurality of cross frame members joining the same with ground engaging wheel assemblies under one end of the chassis and retractable support gear inwardly of the other end. Dump bodies comprising a floor structure incorporating longitudinal and cross frame members and a floor thereon with side walls and a front end wall secured thereto are pivotally mounted on the chassis adjacent the rear end thereof and a hoist, usually hydraulically actuated, is positioned between the chassis and the front end of the dump body to elevate the same. The longitudinal frame members of the dump body are spaced with respect to one another a distance greater than the width of the chassis so that when the body is in transport position on the chassis, the longitudinal frame members of the body lie parallel with and along the outer opposite sides of the frame members of the chassis with the cross frame members of the body resting on the parallel spaced I-beams of the chassis.
In such position, an empty dump trailer body continually moves toward and away from the chassis in a bouncing action as occasioned by irregularities in a roadway over which the trailer is being moved by a tractor or the like. The continual bouncing movement or motion of the trailer body with respect to the chassis results in rapid wear and frequent stuctural damage to the frame members of the body and particularly the cross frame members that normally directly engage the longitudinal beams of the chassis.
Proposals have been made to apply sections of belting material or the like to the upper surfaces of the longitudinal beams of the chassis and various latches have been proposed in attempts to hold the dump body firmly on the chassis. None of these proposals have proved practical in everyday operation of a dump trailer.
This invention provides a plurality of individual cushioning members formed of a durable resilient synthetic resin and attached to the cross frame members of the dump trailer body alongside the longitudinally extending frame members thereof where they will individually cushion each of the cross frame members of the body where they rest on the I-beams of the chassis with the U-shaped configuration of the individual cushion members extending upwardly along the sides of the cross frame members of the body and secured thereto so as to retain the individual cushion members in desired positioning between the cross frame members of the body and the beams of the chassis when the dump body is in transport position resting thereon.